Grandma and Grandpa's Visit

I had been counting down the weeks/days until their visit and all too soon it was here and gone. Sigh...no offense to anyone living in Oklahoma or Missouri, but I wish I could just make your states disappear so the driving distance was much shorter from here to Illinois. :-) End of pity party.

We had so much fun taking Garrett to a park, going to the State Fair, shopping with my mom, bringing them to our church and just hanging out. I can't wait until Christmas so we can do some of these things together again!! I think there won't be space on this post for all the pictures I want to show, so I'll do a separate post of State Fair pictures.

 We had a blast taking Garrett to the park after picking him up from school the first day of their visit. Grandma liked cuddling him on the swings and Grandpa (of course) had fun encouraging Garrett's daredevil side. As if he needs encouragement in that department!!

 Taking a Sesame Street break.

 At McDonald's Playland, Garrett was a little too nervous to go up in the tunnels by himself at first. But once Grandma went with him a couple of times he was brave enough to go it alone. The only downside was the crazy static from the slides!

Grandma brought along a pumpkin for Garrett to decorate and he loved using the paintbrush. "Painting the pumpkin" soon became "painting the Grandma", although I never heard her complain about it!

Watermelon

Yum!

Haircut Day

The day had finally come for Garrett's first non-Mommy or Grandma haircut. It was just too long to tame and he is too wiggly for me to cut it myself anymore. So off we went to the local kids haircut place. I thought that since he would get to sit in a cool chair shaped like a car and watch Dora the Explorer he would be a happier camper than when I try to cut it myself. I was wrong. But it was over and done with before he knew it and his hair isn't as wild as before. If only he'd let me brush it...

The pre-haircut shots. I think the cape freaked him out.

The during-haircut pictures. The squirmy wormy just wouldn't hold still.

Stick'em up Mommy! This is what you get for forcing me to get my hair cut!!

Some post-haircut pics in the backyard. He loves to run around outside and maybe now he won't get as sweaty since his hair is shorter. :-)

Full Speed Ahead

Our little guy is finally back to full speed after being knocked for a serious loop this last week. That's what happens when a virus hangs on and then develops into an ear infection. But after being on meds for a couple of days he seems to be healing quickly. Anyway, he was off and running this morning, playing with every toy he owns to make up for his restful, sick days. And I, of course, had to take pictures. :-) I'm a mom, it's in my job description.

Playing with his Mega Blocks truck. He's really into building these days.

So, even though his face is dirty, I still think this looks like a Zoolander face.

Building again, but this time with his crayons. Anything can be stacked if you try hard enough.

The face of a toddler tantrum. Notice I tried spiking his hair today. Tried. It's way too long to stay up for too long. But it was cute while it lasted.

Milk break.

Dinosaur time! I'm not sure where he picked up on this, but he loves to roar with his dinosaurs. 

Playing in the blinds. It's a miracle he hasn't broken any yet (unlike his Mommy, who has broken at least 2).

Our English Warrior!! He was sporting his England shirt all day (we got it in honor of his Nana!) and decided he wasn't just English, he's a warrior. The funniest part is that back in May when Russ got that warrior hat at the race he ran, Garrett wanted nothing to do with it. He hated that hat. And now it's HIS toy. Nice.

Rangers vs Yankees--Happy Birthday to Russ!!

Russ's birthday is tomorrow but in order to have a toddler-free evening I had to plan ahead. :-) I got tickets to the Rangers-Yankees game and Garrett's Grammy came up from Houston to spend some quality time with him while Russ and I enjoyed the game without chasing him around. It was a terrific game but it was looooooong. I'm talking 13 innings long. But the Rangers won with a walk-off home-run and we even got to stick around for the fireworks. It was definitely one of the best fireworks displays we've ever seen! It was after midnight when the game finally ended and almost 1 a.m. when we took off for home. We haven't seen that hour in a long long time unless it involved a Greek book or a crying baby!! We were exhausted. But after snoozing for about an hour we were awakened by our poor little guy, hot and feverish. And the fever didn't go away until, well, it's still kind of lingering today. But he's on the mend and acting like his usual playful self. Hopefully he'll be back to 100% by tomorrow so we can celebrate his Daddy's birthday properly. In case I don't get on here again tomorrow, HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUSS!! We love you so so much!

Before the game, waiting in line for the gates to open. We were surrounded by Yankees fans...ewww. ;-) Just teasing!

There's just no distracting him when there's an intense game going on. He's got his game-face on and some serious focus.

I've got my rally cap on (okay, it's Russ's rally cap) and hoping for the Rangers to get back in the game.  PS: It worked!!

Just to give you an idea of how long the game went. This was taken at the beginning of the 13th inning, about 15 minutes before Nelly Cruz hit one into the stands and ended the game.

The next group of pictures were taken before he got hit by the ugly virus that's had him sick for so long. One way I know that Garrett's on the mend is that he's back to climbing again!

Mmmm...this milk is yummy! Want some?

Ready to go...somewhere. :-)

When I told him to say cheese, this is what he did. He's learning!

Our mountain goat--no couch too tall, no kitchen table too high.